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Sustainable Synergies between the Cultural and Tourism Industries: An Efficiency Evaluation Perspective

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  • Zhen Su

    (Department of Tourism Management, Business School, Guangxi University, No.100 East Daxue Road, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China
    Applied Economics Postdoctoral Research Station, Guangxi University, No.100 East Daxue Road, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China)

  • Joshua R. Aaron

    (Department of Management, Jones College of Business, Middle Tennessee State University, MTSU Box75, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA)

  • William C. McDowell

    (Foster College of Business, Bradley University, 135 Westlake Hall, 1501 West Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61625, USA)

  • Dan Dan Lu

    (Applied Economics Postdoctoral Research Station, Guangxi University, No.100 East Daxue Road, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China)

Abstract

Cultural tourism has received widespread attention for its role in promoting cultural heritage and economic growth. However, there is insufficient research regarding how to verify the synergy between culture and tourism and how to ensure its sustainability in the integration of the cultural and tourism industries (CTI). This study establishes an interdisciplinary composite analytical framework from the perspective of efficiency evaluation. China, a country that has advocated the integration of CTI since 2009, is the research setting. The findings indicate that the technical efficiency of the tourism industry has increased significantly since the involvement of the cultural industry. Meanwhile, economically underdeveloped regions have opportunities to catch up with developed regions in terms of technical efficiency, and they perform better in terms of sustainable productivity growth. Importantly, U-shaped and inverted U-shaped curves were found in the coordinate systems composed of groups comprising the coupling coordination degree and the efficiency-related index, respectively. This finding reveals the existence of a running-in effect in the integration process of CTI, thereby contributing to both theory and policy-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhen Su & Joshua R. Aaron & William C. McDowell & Dan Dan Lu, 2019. "Sustainable Synergies between the Cultural and Tourism Industries: An Efficiency Evaluation Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-20, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:23:p:6607-:d:289980
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    1. Bo Tang & Hao Luo, 2022. "Mismatch and Coupling: A Study on the Synergistic Development of Tourism-Economy-Ecology Systems in the Pearl River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-24, July.
    2. Yuqing Geng & Hongwei Zhu & Renjun Zhu, 2022. "Coupling Coordination between Cultural Heritage Protection and Tourism Development: The Case of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-22, November.
    3. Lin, Sheng-Wei & Lu, Wen-Min, 2024. "A comparison of chance-constrained data envelopment analysis, stochastic nonparametric envelopment of data and bootstrap method: A case study of cultural regeneration performance of cities," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 316(3), pages 1179-1191.
    4. Hui Chen & Tianyi Chen & Long Li & Xiaoliang Chen & Jian Huang, 2022. "Testing Convergence of Tourism Development and Exploring Its Influencing Factors: Empirical Evidence from the Greater Bay Area in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-12, May.

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